3-HAO is the enzyme in the catabolic pathway of tryptophan responsible for the conversion of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid into quinolinic acid. Both QUIN and its biosynthetic enzyme 3-HAO have been identified in rodent as well as in human brain tissue. QUIN is an excitatory amino acid acting through the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and has recently gained attention for its putative role as an endogenuos excitotoxin involved in neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease, stroke/cerebral ischemia, hypoxia, Alzheimer's disease and the Aids dementia complex as well as epilepsi. Inhibitors of 3-HAO activity are of obvious therapeutic interest in diseases which can be traced to an overabundance of quinolinic acid.